In 2017, USCET invited Zia to speak at a number of locations in China including at InfoUSA@BFSU in Beijing, Sichuan University and Sichuan Normal University in Chengdu, and New York University Shanghai.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was created by the Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS) to honor an individual who has made an outstanding and lifelong contribution to the advancement of the field of Asian American Studies.